Why Borussia Dortmund will beat Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League
Borussia Dortmund will round off their UEFA Champions League league phase campaign against Inter Milan at Signal Iduna Park. Here is why they can be confident of beating the Nerazzurri on Wednesday (kick-off: 9.00pm CET)…
Dortmund’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Matchday 7 weakened their hopes of qualifying automatically for the last 16, as they now sit 16th in the table with one game remaining. However, all three points here would at least secure an easier draw, on paper, in the knockout stage play-offs.
They will primarily look to their home form, both in Europe and domestically, for inspiration as they prepare to face last season’s finalists. Borussia have lost just one of their past 21 home games in the Champions League, winning 13 and drawing seven.
That run includes victories over Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, showing that Dortmund are more than a match for the very best in front of their own supporters. Against Italian sides, they have lost just one of their previous six games on home soil.
In all competitions, their form at home is even more impressive. Bayer Leverkusen are the only side since March to make the trip to Dortmund and prevail, while VfB Stuttgart and Augsburg are the only other teams to do so since the start of 2025.
Speaking ahead of his side’s 3-3 draw with high-flying Stuttgart in November, Niko Kovač discussed the impact of Dortmund’s raucous home support. “The stadium here, with our brilliant fans, really is quite a factor. That’s important for us, but of course it’s also significant for our opponents.”
Whether home or away, Dortmund have become a difficult team to beat. Since losing to Barcelona in April last year, BVB have been defeated on only five occasions, and the list of sides to get the better of them is a real who’s who of European football - Real Madrid (2-1), Bayern Munich (2-1), Manchester City (4-1), Leverkusen and Tottenham.
Many of their strong results have been down to a solid backline. Gregor Kobel has kept a league-high 10 clean sheets across the first 19 matchdays of the Bundesliga season, while no side has conceded fewer than their six goals at home.
Nevertheless, it is their attack that has caught the eye in this year’s Champions League. They have found the back of the net 19 times, a number only bettered by Arsenal, Bayern and PSG (20).
Dortmund have not relied on one single player in the forward department, with 10 different players scoring across their seven games so far, a number that rises to 15 across all competitions.
Usually, Dortmund would expect Serhou Guirassy to shoulder a higher proportion of the goalscoring responsibilities, but after netting four times across the opening three Bundesliga games this term, the Guinea international has registered just twice since.
Guirassy does, however, have three goals in seven Champions League outings, and given he was the competition’s top scorer last term with no fewer than 13 efforts, it would be foolish to write him off.
Dortmund need him at his best between now and the end of the season if they are to achieve their goals, and there would be no better time for him to kickstart his campaign than on Wednesday night.
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